Friday, 3 August 2012

Children are the future of human mankind. Hence; it is very
important to boost the working memory, which is an integral part of
brain development process for children. In this article; we look at
different activities which can boost the working memory in children.

A well known scholar once said “A good memory is like a bagful of
gold.” Therefore it is very important to build the + memory of children
in their formative years. Working memory stores crucial information,
while other material which is taught in schools forms the foundation
for complex skills and knowledge. Children are very innocent in their
early days. Hence, they can retain lot of information in their brains. A
child who has poor working memory will find it extremely difficult to
take on activities and face problems in learning. A recent research
claims that memory deficits, if not found in early childhood can lead
to extreme conditions; that can affect the academic performance of the
child.

Let us now see different activities that can boost the working memory in children:

Kim’s game: This is a very popular game played by
young kids that provides memory building exercises for them. It
contains various selections of objects and number of words. These things
are displayed to the child and then the objects are covered up. Kids
then have to determine which item has been removed. This game can be
played with different sets of objects.

Repetition: This activity ensures that children
retain information for both short term and long term memories. It
consists of reciting times tables, test questions and regularly viewing
vocabulary cards. Study shows that with regular retrieval practice the
child’s memory can be increased substantially.

Number and letter sequences: If you want to teach
your child a foreign language then number and letter sequences is a
very probable answer. It comprises of short number sequence and then
gradually builds up digit by digit. The child then gets a minute to
revise it after which the number sequence is removed completely. The
child then has to recall as much of the sequence as they can. This
process is repeated for letters.

Students are usually stressed out before the big test. In this
article; we look at the different ways through which students can
prepare for the test.

We are fast approaching the 21st Century Learning
mechanism. Students are always concerned about cracking the next big
test round the corner with flying colors. But most of them are not able
to absorb the pressure of the big day and are under tremendous stress
to do well. With the transforming educational scenario;it becomes very important for the students to get enchanted learning
with proper preparation for the big test. Let us look at some of the
pioneering ways through which students can prepare for the big test:

BEFORE THE TEST

Revise the notes loudly: Every student has a
different approach to revising the notes - some learn by reading, some
by reading and others by writing. If you are reading the notes loudly,
subconsciously you are doing all the three things simultaneously. It is
also possible to retain vast amount of knowledge by reading notes loudly
to yourself or friend.

Only include important notes for revision: It is
very important for the students to note that every single piece of
information is not important. Hence, care should be taken to cross
irrelevant notes before studying for the test. It is also of great
significance to learn the notes that are not going to be important for
the test. Separate them out so that it becomes convenient to study only
that part of information which is important for the test.

Importance of sleep: Sleep is of utmost
importance for the students especially before the test. Make sure that
you get at least six hours of sleep before a test. Even if that means
that students have to sacrifice a bit of their studying for it.

DURING THE TEST

Answer everything the first time: Always answer
every single question without leaving any blank spaces even if you have
no idea of the question. Circle that question so that you can come back
and add more points to the answer. Most of the times intelligent
guesswork pays-off which yields great results for the students.

Revise the answers once you finish the test: Once
you have finished the test revise the answers thoroughly. Just checking
the answers will not help take the exam again this will enable you to
understand whether you have misinterpreted any question or put a wrong
answer to the question. Try to answer the questions once again and then
compare the newly answered questions with the earlier answers this will
give you a fair idea of whether the answer provided is correct or not.

Over thinking is a crime: Many times due to
anxiety and over thinking students change their right answers with wrong
ones which lead to error of judgment. Always note that your first
instinct is smarter than the second one. Go with the flow and the
answers will come automatically.